a16z Podcast
In this feed drop from Uncapped, Jack Altman sits down with a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz to unpack the founding bet behind Andreessen Horowitz. VC should be a better product for entrepreneurs, built on real operating experience, real networks, and real support.
Ben shares how he and Marc Andreessen have worked together for 30 years, how they make decisions, and what it takes to scale a venture firm without losing the edge that actually helps founders. They also dig into why boards matter, how platform teams can change what partners do day-to-day, and the difference between “heat-seeking” investing and conviction-driven company building, especially in sectors like AI and crypto.
Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
01:05 Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen’s Partnership
04:05 Building & Leading a16z
07:16 Managing High-Powered VCs
11:01 Boards, Governance & Founder Support
15:36 Platform Services & Recruiting
17:43 Scale vs. Concentration in Venture
20:57 Why Venture Can Scale
24:27 Platform Services: What Works and What Doesn’t
27:50 The Real Value of Board Membership
35:38 Media, Brand & Marketing Evolution
41:32 The Future of Media & Journalism
45:30 Limits on Venture Firm Size
49:13 Winning vs. Picking Deals
53:16 The Case Against Venture Scale
55:49 Hiring Operators & Rethinking the VC Product
Resources:
Follow Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz
Follow Jack on X: https://twitter.com/jaltma
Watch more from Uncapped: https://www.altcap.com/
Stay Updated:
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!
Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX
Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

-
On Fear and Leadership: Product to Sales CTOs & CEOs
There’s a few ontologies for describing the phases leaders — and their startups — go through, whether it’s product-sales-etc. or pioneer to settler. In any case, as companies evolve, so must the leaders — but…
-
On Food As Medicine (A Holiday Snack)
What happens if we treat food as a medicine in the healthcare system: How, where, and who (pays)? What role can technology play in increasing access, distribution, and more? General partner Julie Yoo talks with…
-
Crypto Creators: On Art Galleries to ‘Tokenized’ Collectibles
This episode features Q&As with two artists who are exploring crypto-powered auction sites and marketplaces – this is part of our ongoing series on the creator economy. The big picture is that emerging “tokenization” models,…
-
What to Know about Those Vaccines
A vaccine for COVID seems to be (almost) here… or is it? What’s hype/ what’s real beyond the headlines (and beyond the press release), when it comes to the announcement last week from Pfizer and…
-
The Social Serendipity of Cloud Gaming
True cloud-native games—those exclusive to and solely playable within the cloud—are poised to revolutionize gameplay and unlock new avenues of hyper-personalized storytelling and socializing. It’s a vision that, though steadily advancing, is still in its…
-
The Great Data Debate
Lakes v. warehouses, analytics v. AI/ML, SQL v. everything else… As the technical capabilities of data lakes and data warehouses converge, are the separate tools and teams that run AI/ML and analytics converging as well?…
-
How to Moderate Talks, Panels, Meetings, More (Virtual and Beyond!)
How to moderate good, productive discussions and navigate tricky conversations is top of mind — whether doing a panel, conducting a live event, presenting a talk (or hosting a podcast), managing (and even just participating…
-
Textiles as Tech, Science, Math, Culture… or Civilization
“The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they’re indistinguishable from it.” That quote from computer scientist Mark Weiser is from a 1991 paper where…
-
Data Alone Is Not Enough: The Evolution of Data Architectures
Data, data, data – it’s long been a buzzword in the industry, whether big data, streaming data, data analytics, data science, even AI & machine learning — but data alone is not enough: it takes…
-
Designing for, Marketing to, and Partnering With Gen Z
Gen Z—those born between 1995 and 2010—now makes up 35 percent of the population and represent $143 billion dollars in spending power. This episode is all about how brands can better understand, collaborate with, and…
